Men will be Men

I had a vision of Buddha coming and telling me - "I wish there were two of me. One to work and spend time with family and one to do what I want. And then, believe me, I would have not left Kapilvastu."

Well, Buddha did not come in my dream and he did not say any such thing. But I can imagine how he would have been torn between two contradictory needs. More he got the companionship, more was the desire to leave everything and do what he wanted to do and not what his family wanted him to do.

It is quite interesting how "work-family" and "what-I-want-to-do" become mutually exclusive. It is also interesting, if you notice, how conveniently work and family have been grouped together. And how "to do what I want" has been left completely undefined.

But really, what do I want to do when I am not with the family and not at work? What do you want to do? Apart from once-in-a-year-ha-ha-hee-hee with college friends, occasional gossips with colleagues during after-work-social-drinking, I want to be left alone to do whatever I want. And, that would be..... I wish I knew.

Is it only me or there are others (other men) who think like me? Do women also have these contradictory demands from life? Or it is just "Men will be Men" thing.